High school girls soccer: Griffith was clutch and built culture
Published 3:10 pm Friday, June 6, 2025
- Salisbury's Addie Griffith with a header. Photo by Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
Addie Griffith
By Mike London
Salisbury Post
SALISBURY — Salisbury’s Addison “Addie” Griffith cleverly eluded a Trinity defender, dribbled past another and angled a long shot that sailed through a tiny window, bent right around a startled keeper and settled into the netting.
“My favorite goal of my senior season,” Griffith said. “I was pretty far out. I remember putting my hands on my head and just standing there smiling, and I was like, ‘Wait, did I really just do that?’ My teammates were laughing and running up to hug me, and there’s no better feeling than that.”
While the Trinity game was non-conference, it was an important one for the Hornets, a 3-0 victory in a game that was a toss-up based on the RPI rankings. Griffith set the pace, scored two goals and assisted on the other. She did that sort of thing all year for the Hornets as a swift, determined forward with a nose for the back of the net.
Griffith is the Rowan County Co-Player of the Year, sharing that honor with Carson graduate Allie Martin.
“A lot of people doubted Salisbury soccer this year, probably more people than have doubted us since 2002,” head coach Matt Parrish said. “Yes, there was a lot of uncertainty. Our participation numbers were down. Valuable players graduated or transferred. Some girls elected not to play. We had a devastating injury. One of the few constants we had was Addie Griffith. She was a central and vital figure in our success. I appreciate her sticking with me, sticking with her teammates and the program. We wouldn’t have done what we did without her.”
Griffith scored 26 goals for a 15-4-1 team and finished second in the Central Carolina Conference. Seven of those goals were decisive. Game-winners. She also had 10 assists.
Griffith is a slim, dark-haired girl who looks almost fragile when she steps on the pitch, but she’s got some steel in her spine. She proved that over and over to opponents.
“Addie was our principal captain, a highly unusual entity in my tenure as coach at SHS,” Parrish said.
That was a role Griffith took seriously.
“Being captain of the team meant doing my best to help build a team culture, and that was even more important than scoring goals,” Griffith said. “I know there were times when we didn’t look like a great team out there, but I tried to stay positive and encourage my teammates, even in the toughest games. We lost a great player, a girl who can be a D-I player (Anna Kate Goodman) very early in the season, but we had some girls step up and play great like freshman Gabbi Fatovic. We held it together. We won our share of games.”
Griffith got started early with soccer, around age 5. Her dad is Drew Griffith, who starred at Salisbury and played college soccer for a conference championship team at Greensboro.
Her talent stayed hidden for a while. She played but didn’t really stand out for the middle school team at Gray Stone Day. She also played her freshman season of high school at Gray Stone, but didn’t get a lot of field time.
She transferred to Salisbury for her sophomore year, providing a boost, as it turned out, for Salisbury’s tennis program as well as soccer. She was an all-conference tennis player for the Hornets as a junior and senior.
“It was fun and it was an honor to be part of a tennis program that has won so many championships,” Griffith said. “It will always be good to know that I helped continue that winning tradition.”
Griffith’s sophomore soccer season came the year after the Hornets had graduated Sutton Webb, one of the all-time players for the program.
“Addie’s first season in our program, she was immediately — and probably unfairly — tasked with filling the gap in production left by Sutton,” Parrish said. “Addie certainly upheld her end of the bargain, netting 22 goals.”
Griffith’s three-year totals for the Hornets were 60 goals and 28 assists. She was All-Central Carolina Conference three years in a row and received All-Region accolades as a senior.
Griffith was planning to go to Appalachian State as a regular student not long ago, but an opportunity to go to Catawba and continue to play soccer has materialized. She’s gotten a lot of academic scholarships and Catawba coach Nick Brown has a spot for her on Catawba’s developmental squad.
“There are a lot of family ties to Catawba,” Griffith said. “My uncles went there and my grandfather (Dr. Bruce Griffith) taught at Catawba for 42 years.”
The late Dr. Griffith chaired the history department at Catawba. His favorite thing outside of the classroom was the Catawba women’s soccer team
“There’s a lot of legacy there,” Griffith said. “Our family is deeply rooted in Catawba.”
Griffith is an excellent student and plans a biology major.
